


Flights of Freedom - Hiatus

by DawnRain_776, M1dn1ght_Star



Category: Original Work, Science Fiction - Fandom
Genre: Deceit, Excessive Grumpiness, Futuristic, General Annoyance by way of Mediocrity, Minor Sibling Rivalry, Minor amnesia, OCs - Freeform, Pirates, Science Fiction, Space Pirates, THE CHARACTERS, Undercover, not us, scifi, sea colonies, stowaway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-08-11 12:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16475360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnRain_776/pseuds/DawnRain_776, https://archiveofourown.org/users/M1dn1ght_Star/pseuds/M1dn1ght_Star
Summary: Aeline fixes a very annoying dude's hovership.





	1. Aeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aeline fixes a very annoying dude's hovership.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the shortness of this chapter :D  
> Please leave some kudos and comments!  
> -Dawn

I stick my head up from under the greasy hood of the ship as someone taps on the metal.

The gentlemen whose hovership I’m currently fixing wrinkles his nose at my grimy appearance.  I ignore him and prepare to stick my head back under the ship when he stops me.  I push his large aquastick away from my face tentatively, staring at the fish as they are jostled by the movement.  I hate aquasticks.  The fish in them barely have any room to move around and are generally incredibly overfed.

“Are you almost done?” He asks in a haughty voice.

I roll my eyes, “I just need to connect the hyperdrive wires with the PD drive wires.”

“What?” he looks confused.

“You connect the red wire, to the green wire.  Then poof, the hovership works again.”

I stick my head back under the hood and connect the wires.  I flip a few switches and jumpstart the engine.  The hovership starts with a faint humming, and the underbelly glows blue.

I’m pretty good at scamming the folks on Tremalind.  Their wallets are bigger than their brains.  I didn’t really do much to this guy’s engine, but he didn’t need much persuading to think that the problem was much worse than it really was.  He didn’t know any mechanic lingo, so it was pretty easy to rip him off.

As I take off my gloves, and pack up the toolbox, the gentlemen taps into his Holotap 8, a new model.  I couldn’t afford one of those beauties if I tried.  

“Money transferred,” he says, tipping his hat.  I fight the urge to roll my eyes again, and smile, walking away.

“Pleasure doing business with you.”

***

My hovership is an older model but has a beautiful titanium alloy finish.  I found it in a scrapyard and fixed it up.  The hyperdrive works, but sometimes, the landing gear takes a while to start.

“Dorian, start engines,” I call as I enter the ship.

I installed a newer version of the hovership AI on the markets, one that can actually understand what I’m saying.

“Right, Aeline,” comes the metallic response.

I walk into the galley kitchen, a lovely model, despite the stove needing a kick, every time I try to start it.

“How many times have I told you to call me Li,” I wash my hands in the sink.

“Please excuse me,” Dorian drones, “Where shall I set the course.”

I take a tube of Bioberries out of the fridge, “Set course to Rosier Island.”

“Setting course now.”

I stare out the window as the ship takes off, listening to the whirring and beating of its mechanic heart.  It’s almost as though I can feel its every movement.


	2. Raylee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray stows away on a certain person's hovership.

The streets teem with chattering, laughing people, all with lots of money and time to spare. On a normal day, I’d waste some time chatting with them, coaxing a few coins out of their purse. Nothing worth much, obviously, as everything over a druvel is digital. Folks still prefer to not have to dig out their holoscreens for everything little thing though, so the physical coin perseveres.

Not today though, I’ve something more important to do. I’ve finally found a lead on Calla, the only thing I remember from my empty past. She is a very hard-to-find hovership captain but cashing in favors owed to me had been very worth it when I received a tip that she was in Rosier. I was in Tremalind, so it was extreme luck that I was nearby, only a few islands over. It could have been much worse, like the Sea Colonies for example.

I walk casually through the crowd and into the hover parking terminal. Scanning the ships docked briefly, I decide on a simple silver hover that is parked in a Rosier departure stall. The door is relatively easy to unlock, with magnetic skeleton keys I have found very handy over the years. Honestly, it’s almost laughable how easy it is to break into things these days.

The interior is simple, a few rooms barely furnished, and I find a great place to stay for the trip behind a pile of hover parts. Hmm, the owner must either fix ships or transport parts. No matter, I don’t really care either way. I settle down, ready to take a nap for a few hours. It’s going to be a long trip.

The hover suddenly comes to live and I snap to attention, tense behind my crate as footsteps echo through the ship. They stop after a moment and a soft voice says, “Dorian, start engines.”

“Right, Aeline.” A mechanical voice replies. Interesting, the captain is a girl, like me, and doesn’t sound much older than me either. The ship’s AI is intriguing too. That version costs quite a bit of money, so either she is a pirate or is very skilled. Shaking such thoughts out of my head for now, I rest my head on the crate, lulled to sleep by the roar of the engine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Li and Ray fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the tags may or may not be a discreet Hamilton reference, sorry!  
> -Dawn

Aeline:

I’m lounging in the cockpit, eating some Bioberries and watching the skies, when I hear a crash.

“Dorian, scan ship,” I leap up.  Could someone have stowed away?  I pull a wrench from my toolbox and press the button to open the door.

The galley kitchen seems to be empty, but fridge is open, the plastic plates having crashed to the floor from the counter.  Someone’s here.

“Dorian, have you found anything?” I ask, slowly turning, holding my wrench high.

“Intruder!” red lights start to flash, followed by a deafening siren.  I hear a shout, and turn to see a girl with, oddly, blue hair.  She scrambles back against the wall as I advance on her.

“What are you doing on my ship?” I growl.

The girl’s eyes are wide with terror.  She tries to say something, stutters, but then her eyes go hard, and she leaps at me.

I hit the ground, hard, and the girl struggles as I flip us over, and pin her.  This girl is so skinny, feather light.

The sirens are still blaring, red lights flashing around us.  “Shut up Dorian!” I shout, and the sirens stop.

“I’ll ask you again,” I reach for the wrench that fell from my grasp when she pushed me, “What are you doing on my ship.”

Raylee

I stumble backwards, gasping in surprise. The girl had come out of nowhere, right after a siren started blaring loudly, shocking me. “I’m... I... I needed to... I need...  I.”

“What are you doing on my ship!?” The girl says again, louder. Angrier, as well.

“I needed to get to Rosier.” I reply, ready to fight my way out of this situation if necessary.

“And you thought stowing away on my hover would be a good idea?”

“Well, yes, honestly. But-”

“I can’t get rid of you right now, as we’re in hoverspace, but as soon as we land, you’re going off the ship, but not without paying me for the ride.”

My hand twitches towards my money pouch, and, gritting my teeth, I quickly force myself to redirection and scratch my arm instead. No need to let her know where my stash of druvels is hidden.

Sighing, she releases me and stands up. “Welcome to the ship, my stowaway. I’m Captain Aeline.”

“I’m Ray.” I tell her, cautiously, using my nickname that helps me retain an anonymous profile no matter where I go. My contacts know me as Ray, and not a single person on this planet knows my real name, except for me. I’m not about to start now.

“You will be staying in the storage room, and since you were stealing food, I’m sure you’ll be happy to return that in exchange for two meals a day.” Captain Aeline orders, before turning away and leaving, not even bothering to see if I am doing as instructed, as I don’t really have a choice.


	4. Aeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Li discovers some very astonishing things about Ray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure there are more than five readers, I think Ao3 is just glitching a bit.  
> Also, my computer is being stupid, tell me if you find any repeat chapters, it keeps happening!  
> -Dawn

I stalk back to the bunkroom and slam the door behind me. I don’t trust this girl, ‘Ray.’ That probably isn’t even her real name. 

It’s unbelievably easy to hack into the Web and find out everything about people. It’s how I get most of my aliases. I can find everything about this ‘Ray.’ 

I’ve never trusted people. Maybe it’s just because of my past. I don’t think I’ll ever really trust anyone again. 

I open my holoscreen and project the image up on the wall. It’s easy to get past a few firewalls into my specialized search engine. I search Ray, blue haired girl, many variations of the name Ray, but get nothing. 

Perhaps I’ll take a picture of her. 

“Dorian, set roundabout course to Rosier Island, I’ll command when to land,” I say, closing the holoscreen projection. 

“Shall I inform our passenger?” Dorian’s monotone voice fills the bunkroom. 

“No,” I shook my head, “Don’t bother.” 

*** 

I lie to the girl, because we’ll be on the hover until I tell Dorian to land. 

“You’d better get some rest,” I say gruffly, leading her to the bunkroom, “It’s going to be a while.” 

“But I thought the flight from Tremalind to Rosier is only a couple hours?” she asks innocently. 

I roll my eyes, “I have to make a few pit stops. It’ll be until morning,” as long as she’s alseep, she’ll never know. 

Ray seems to buy the story, and she curls up in the bunk. I sit down in the other bunk, and open the hoverscreen again, tapping quietly. Soon, her breathing deepens, and I risk asking Dorian. 

“Dorian, is the passenger asleep?” I ask. 

“Scanning... Passenger’s vitals verify that she is asleep,” the AI’s monotone voice confirms. 

I smile and close the hoverscreen. Carefully, I position myself so that the camera sees Ray’s face clearly as I take a few shots. I just hope that I’ll find something. 

I upload the pictures onto the web, and search again. What comes up is astonishing. 

There are articles about Ray, or a girl who shares her face named Raylee Wellson who went missing. The first article I click on says that she disappeared about a year ago, in Tremalind. She had recently been caught up in shady activity involving a group of Pirates called the Black Lilies. 

I stop reading. I never thought that I would have to deal with the Black Lilies again. I have terrible memories of them. Of Calla. 

I click on more of the articles, and they all say similar things, about how Raylee Wellson disappeared after being busted with the Lilies. But no one’s found her. Could Ray be running from the law? Did she purposefully disappear? Or was she kidnapped? Or did they do something to her? No, they couldn’t, not just a random girl off the streets. Could they? 

*** 

I sleep fitfully, my thoughts flying to the Pirates and Raylee every time I close my eyes. It’s still early when I get out of bed and shake Raylee a couple times before going to the kitchen. I’ve started thinking of her as Raylee, which isn’t good. I can’t afford to let her know that I found out so much. 

I ignore Raylee, Ray, as I take two Instameals out of the cabinet. I don’t have the time to make meals from scratch, so this is the best I can do. 

Each meal comes in a vacuum sealed plastic container, with different packages of powders. I take two bowls from the cabinets and fill them with water. I can tell that Ray is interested. She’s watching as I pour two packets of powder into each bowl. The water bubbles up into a small hard loaf of bread. I pour the other packets into a saucepan with water and fry up the Instaeggs on the old stove. Of course, the piece of junk requires a decent kick to start up, and I add another dent to the collection on the front of the stove. 

The package doesn’t say to fry the eggs, but they taste like complete crap otherwise. 

Ray’s eyes light up as I set the meal before her. I can tell that she hasn’t eaten in a while as she attacks the food, ignoring the fork for the eggs and shoveling the bread into her mouth. 

I can’t say that I really have many manners myself, but at least I have a little more control than Ray has. 

After eating, I walk up to the cockpit and switch the controls to manual. I can see Rosier Island coming closer as we complete another circle around it. The skies are clear as the sun comes up, bathing the sky in orange and pink. 

“Dorian, prepare landing gear and secure a Rosier arrival stall,” I say as I steer the hovership in for landing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Li doesn't trust Ray, still.

Raylee 

The look in Aeline’s eyes when she sees me the next day tells me that she somehow recognised me from something in my darn past and it wasn’t something good either. But how could she possibly know me? And wouldn’t I remember something if I had known her before? 

“You’re going to be paying now.” Aeline says stiffly, holding out a hand. 

“How much?” I raise an eyebrow. 

“Depends. Do you have credits or druvels? I’m assuming not credits as you seem to be on the run.” She eyes my worn clothing warily. 

“Druvels.” I say tightly, hesitant to give too much away. 

“Well, then 50,000.” A slightly above average travel fee, one I could barely pay. There had been a reason I’d stowed away after all, instead of paying for my travel. If I paid her that much, I’d be starving on the streets and trapped on Rosier. 

“Is there any other way I can pay you?” I ask, letting a little desperation into my voice. 

Aeline gives me a long look before drawling, “Well, I have no need for any other crew members, and I assume you’re here for a reason, so why don’t you pay me half now and then the rest once you’re done with whatever reason you came here for. I also don’t trust you to keep up the bargain alone, so you’ll be wearing a bracelet impossible for anyone to take off except for me that lets me track you.” 

I sigh, knowing I’m trapped. “Fine. But nothing with holometals. I don’t want you constantly staring at me through it.” 

“We’ve got a deal.” We shook hands. Aeline disappeared into a room and came out a moment later with a metallic bracelet. She clamped it around Raylee’s wrist and it gave a beep before tightening. 

Aeline held out her hand. “Half now, remember.” 

I reluctantly give her 25,000 druvels, gritting my teeth, and then stalk out of the ship onto the docking platform. 

\- 

Aeline 

I don’t trust Raylee. So, I’m going to follow her. That was the real purpose of the wristband, not to make sure she pays. I can track her all the way across Rosier, possibly right to the pirates. 

It is nice to get some druvels without having to work my butt off. But I need to find the Lilies. I have some business with them. 

Logging into my holoscreen in the bunkroom, I kill time as I watch Raylee walk through Manaane, the capital of Rosier Island. She keeps stopping at the most random places, a fabric store, street vendors, the square. It’s as though she’s never been here before. 

But how could anyone in the Islands have not been here. Rosier Island is the trade center of the Islands, supplying everyone else with goods. Everyone who’s anyone takes their kids here when they’re children. Anyone who isn’t in the sea colonies has been here. Everyone. 

I’m beginning to suspect things. Things I don’t want to think about. Things I don’t want to believe. And if they’re true, all heck will break loose.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aeline goes under cover...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're not sure exactly how long this story is going to be yet, but it's probably going to be at least 20-30 chapters. We haven't been posting as frequently recently, and I apologize. Unfortunately, finals are coming up soon, so posting will most likely be even less often or the story may be put on hiatus for a week or two.
> 
> That said, thank you so much for sticking with us as we bumble our way through writing a sci-fi story. <3  
> -Midnight

Raylee

I walk into the market, gazing around in barely concealed awe. Everything is so much more colorful and decorated than Tremalind. I stop at a fabric store and marvel at the beautiful embroidered thread on a blue ream of silk. It looks so intricate. 

Then, I find myself drawn to random stalls, looking at the many different goods on display. I’d heard that Rosier was the trade capital of the Islands, but I’d never seen it before. At least, not that I remember...

Shaking myself from my sad thoughts, I walk into the square, scouting all the places I might find information about Calla. A tavern near the edge of the square looked promising, with slightly shady looking patrons. Not too shady, of course, but enough that they most likely had some who dealt in information.

I entered the tavern, which had a strangely familiar sign with black lilies painted on it that proclaimed it to be the Flower of Death. Strange name, most taverns went for something more like the Broken Wine Bottle. I wasn’t stupid or ignorant, so I flipped my hood up and adjusted my walk to make myself both unnoticeable and someone to avoid. I didn’t want any thieves or such getting ideas.

-

Aeline

I’m lounging on my bunk, scrolling through newspaper articles, when I look back at the map. Raylee has entered a very familiar tavern called the Flower of Death. The secret headquarters of the Black Lilies.

No, no, no.

I can’t go back there.  Not again.  Not with Calla and Father.

_I’m crying again.  Watching father shout at Calla for not doing something right._

_He slaps her across the face, and Calla falls with a small cry._ _The he stalks away.  I run to her, as she sits there, in shock._

He hurt us all the time, slapping us, and hitting us.  When we didn’t do something exactly as he wanted it done.   All the time.

Calla blamed it on mother, her leaving us.  She was always loyal to him, up until the very end.

I don’t want to think about it.

Does Raylee have a holoscreen?  I could contact her now, warn her to get out.  But she might have left it on the ship, or it might be turned off.  Besides, with so many holoscreens across the island, I would never be able to find hers individually.

I’ll have to go find her.

I’m wresting with myself inside, as I pocket my portable holoscreen and take my satchel, with some money in it.  I’ve been ready for this for a while.  They don’t know that I’m still alive.  I don’t want father and Calla to find out.  They have spies all over Rosier.

I unlock the secret cabinet at the back of the ship.  It’s full of disguises.  I can’t let any of the Black Lilies know that I’m alive.

I can’t let Calla know.

I pull on a black crop top and cargo pants.  Crops tops are ‘in fashion’ right now.  Whatever.  I’ve had this in here forever.  I pull on a black wig, trying not to itch at the uncomfortable fake hair.  I did my makeup quickly, much heavier than normal, though that doesn’t count for much because I never wear makeup.

Into the crowd of Rosier I go, looking like your regular amateur trend follower.  Pretty much every other person on the streets these days.

I follow the crowds to the market, watching my holoscreen out of the corner of my eye.  And I see the tavern, it’s foreboding black structure makes me shiver.

The interior is almost empty, only a few patrons hanging around.  No sign of Ray.

Then I hear a muffled shout from the back room.  I run over and burst through the door, to see Calla pushing Raylee against a wall, holding a knife to her throat.


End file.
